About Me
In his guise as a college professor, Henry Jones Junior is an average joe, who can also rise to the occasion in the guise of "Indiana", a superhero image he has concocted for himself.[5] Producer Frank Marshall said, "Indy [is] a fallible character. He makes mistakes and gets hurt. [...] That's the other thing people like: He's a real character, not a character with superpowers."[6] Spielberg said there "was the willingness to allow our leading man to get hurt and to express his pain and to get his mad out and to take pratfalls and sometimes be the butt of his own jokes. I mean, Indiana Jones is not a perfect hero, and his imperfections, I think, make the audience feel that, with a little more exercise and a little more courage, they could be just like him."[7] According to Spielberg biographer Douglas Brode, Indiana is a childish man who created his heroic figure so to escape the dullness of teaching at a school. Both of Indiana's personas reject one another in philosophy, creating a duality.[5] Harrison Ford said the fun of playing the character was because Indiana is both a romantic and a cynic,[8] while scholars have analyzed Indiana as having traits of a lone wolf; a man on a quest; a noble treasure hunter; a hardboiled detective; a human superhero; and an American patriot.[9]Like many characters in his films, Jones has some autobiographical elements of Spielberg. Indiana lacks a proper father figure because of his strained relationship with his father, Henry Senior. His own contained anger is misdirected at the likes of Professor Abner Ravenwood, his mentor at the University of Chicago, leading to a strained relationship with Marion Ravenwood.[5] The teenage Indiana bases his own look on a villainous figure from the prologue of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, after being given his hat.[10] Marcus Brody acts as Indiana's positive role model at the college.[10] Indiana's own insecurities are made worse by the absence of his mother.[11] In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the character becomes the father in a temporary family unit with Willie Scott and Short Round to survive. Indiana is rescued from the evil of Kali by Short Round's dedication. Indiana also saves many children from slavery.[11]Because of Indiana's strained relationship with his father, a Christian searching for the Holy Grail, the character rejects the spiritual side of the profession he has followed in. The inconsistency of the three films is that after becoming a believer in Judaism (in Raiders), Hinduism (in Doom) and Christianity (Crusade), Indiana reverts back in the next film.[10] Temple of Doom, chronologically the earliest of the films, has Indiana as a mercenary, searching for "fortune and glory". Indiana uses his belief in Shiva to ultimately defeat Mola Ram.[11] In Raiders, the cynical Indiana accepts humility and refuses to open his eyes in the presence of the spirits who have been disturbed from their slumber in the Ark of the Covenant. By contrast, his rival Rene Belloq is killed for trying to communicate directly with God.[5]In Crusade's prologue, Indiana's intentions are revealed as social, as he believes artifacts "belong in a museum". In the film's climax, Indiana undergoes literal tests of faith to retrieve the Grail and save his father's life. He also recognizes Jesus as a humble carpenter when he recognizes the simple nature and tarnished appearance of the real Grail amongst a large assortment of much more ornately decorated ones. Henry Senior returns the favor by rescuing his son from falling to his death when reaching for the fallen Grail, telling him to "let it go", overcoming his mercenary nature.[10] The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles explains how Indiana becomes solitary and less idealistic after fighting in World War I.[12] In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Jones is older and wiser, whereas his sidekicks Mutt and Mac are youthfully arrogant or greedy, respectively.[13](thanks wikipedia!)
